{pruning}

     This past week and this week have been the John block class here at CSM Ireland. Miles DeBenedictis the pastor of Cross Connection church in Escondido, CA has flown over to come teach it. It's been so good just studying the life of Christ.

     Today, we covered John 15 and how we are to abide in the Vine. What really hit me was about pruning....here's some notes mixed with my homework assignment to look at the "I AM" statement:

     In the beginning of John 15, Jesus spoke His last out of the seven “I AM” statements - "I am the vine; you are the branches" (John 15:5, ESV). We as people (and in this context specifically, the nation of Israel) are branches which are to abide in the vine so that it bears fruit but all branches that do not bear fruit are useless and cut off. It shows the necessity of staying connected to the Branch, Christ, in order for growth. Without being attached to the only true Source of life, we can do nothing. In the previous three chapters, Jesus is explaining to His disciples about some heavy topics - His death/resurrection, His leaving of the world, His new commandment to love one another, His foretelling of Peter’s denial, and His promise of the Holy Spirit to name a few. If the disciples were wondering how they would be able to go through it all, Jesus gives them the answer - to abide in Him.

     I love how Jesus uses the word “prune” in verse two. Miles used the visual picture of pruning his fruit trees and grape vines. I’m a visual learner so visually picturing a big, leafy bush that may look nice but is pruned down to it’s very shrub, looking like it’s now useless and dead, creates a great parallel to what God wants to do in me. I may grow a lot of “leaves” that I feel look good to the eye but in the end, when it’s time for the “fruit” to come out, are worth nothing. But if I abide in Christ, He will come along and prune me, cutting away everything that is hindering me from bearing the maximum amount of fruit. I have to allow God to cut me down to absolutely nothing so that He can begin again in me a growth of good, lasting things. Obviously, getting scissors to certain things in your life won't necessarily be a pleasant experience - actually rather painful. Nevertheless, God is sovereign and knows what the best is for us. He prunes us down because He loves us.
     He also pointed out that for a physical tree, it’s in its nature to produce fruit. I guess I never thought about that aspect. Sure, I may show a lot of fruit outwardly in my life, but the real thing that matters is if it's truly something that flows naturally from the love of the Lord inside of me. You don't ever see a tree struggling and pushing out and forcing fruit to appear, but it's just what it does. My own sinful nature does not want to produce fruits, but through the working of Christ in me, He gives me the grace to tear down my own nature and replace it with His - a nature that naturally pours out fruit (Galatians 5:22-23).
     In all honesty, it’s much easier to produce “leaves” that just look nice to the viewer, but to actually bear real fruit - that’s a challenge. To have it be a natural outflow of what’s in my heart. It’s a life that is filled with natural fruit solely for God’s glory. A life that is abiding in Christ.